David Roberts

Postdoctoral fellow

Career History

2022-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick. PI: Dr Seamus Holden
2018-2022: Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Newcastle University. PI: Prof Jeff Errington FMedSci FRS
2013-2017: PhD in Molecular Microbiology, Newcastle University. Supervisor: Prof Jeff Errington FMedSci FRS; Funder: The Barbour Foundation
2009-2013: MBiolSci (Hons) First Class in Molecular Biology, University of Sheffield

Email: David.M.Roberts@warwick.ac.uk


Current Research

Since joining the Holden lab in October 2022, my research has been focussed on one of the most fundamental questions in microbiology: how one bacterial cell divides into two.

Bacteria are surrounded by a peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall which is vital for protecting the cell from lysis due to its high internal osmotic pressure, and in rod-shaped bacteria is also critical for cell shape. Furthermore, PG synthesis is a major target for some of our most effective antibiotics (e.g. the penicillin’s) and is therefore a process of immense current interest.

For bacteria to divide, PG needs to be built inwards at the division site in a precise and coordinated manner without compromising wall integrity (which would result in lysis and cell death). A conserved protein complex, known as the divisome, is critical for initiating and driving cell division, and is composed of cytoskeletal proteins, PG synthesis enzymes and a host of regulatory factors. Since many of the proteins in the divisome are essential, bacterial cell division offers an attractive target for antibiotic discovery.

Using the model Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis, I use a combination of genetics, cell biology and advanced microscopy (single molecule and super-resolution) to study how the proteins and enzymes in the divisome function, both individually and together, to drive the synthesis of septal PG during bacterial division. A longer-term aim is to test our models from B. subtilis in a range of other bacterial species, including important pathogens.

Publications:

  • Middlemiss S; Blandenet M; Roberts DM; McMahon A; Grimshaw J; Edwards JM; Sun Z; Whitley KD; Blu T; Strahl H; Holden S (2024). Molecular motor tug-of-war regulates elongasome cell wall synthesis dynamics in Bacillus subtilis. Nature Communications, 15, 5411. DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-49785-x
  • Whitley KD; Grimshaw J; Roberts DM; Karinou E; Stansfeld PJ; Holden S (2024). Peptidoglycan synthesis drives a single population of septal cell wall synthases during division in Bacillus subtilis. Nature Microbiology, 9, 1064-1074. DOI:10.1038/s41564-024-01650-9
  • Benn G1; Bortolini C1; Roberts DM; Pyne ALB; Holden S; Hoogenboom BW (2023). Complement-mediated killing of bacteria by mechanical destabilization of the cell envelope. bioRxiv, 1joint first authors. doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.10.570986.
  • Roberts DM (2023). A new role for monomeric ParA/Soj in chromosome dynamics in Bacillus subtilis. MicrobiologyOpen, 12, e1344. https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.1344
  • Roberts DM; Anchimiuk A; Kloosterman TG; Murray H; Wu LJ; Gruber S; Errington J (2022). Chromosome remodelling by SMC/Condensin in B. subtilis is regulated by monomeric Soj/ParA during growth and sporulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 119, e2204042119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2204042119
  • Roberts DM; Errington J; Kawai Y (2021). Characterization of the L-form switch in the Gram-negative pathogen Streptobacillus moniliformis. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 368, fnab156. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnab156
  • Santos-Beneit F; Roberts DM; Cantlay S; McCormick JR; Errington J (2017). A mechanism for FtsZ-independent proliferation in Streptomyces. Nature Communications, 8, 1378. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01596-z
  • Kloosterman TG; Lenarcic R; Willis CR; Roberts DM; Hamoen LW; Errington J; Wu LJ (2016). Complex polar machinery required for proper chromosome segregation in vegetative and sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis. Molecular Microbiology, 101, 333-350. https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.13393
  • Pietroni P; Vasisht N; Cook JP; Roberts DM; Lord JM; Hartmann-Petersen R; Roberts LM; Spooner RA (2013). The proteasome cap RPT5/Rpt5p subunit prevents aggregation of unfolded ricin A chain. Biochemical Journal, 453, 435-445. https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20130133